


Of Gifts and Reminiscence

by boats_birds



Series: KagaKuro Valentine's Week [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Fluff, KagaKuro Valentine's Event, Light Angst, M/M, in which baby pictures are the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 01:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13671282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boats_birds/pseuds/boats_birds
Summary: When she shut the photo album, a weird sense of sadness and nostalgia for something he didn't remember took over him. He snapped out of it when Kuroko's mother patted at his knee. She gave Kagami a patient smile as she stood up, returning the album to their bookshelf where even more albums waited."What about you, Taiga?" she asked suddenly. "Can we see your baby pictures?"Kagami blinked at her.





	Of Gifts and Reminiscence

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: A sweet gift
> 
> Listen, it may seem like I enjoy giving Kagami a hard time so Kuroko can comfort him and they can be soft babies together. And that's because I do.

"You were such a fat baby."

"I was not. I was a healthy baby."

"Yeah. A healthy, fat baby."

"Taiga, please don't call my baby fat. It upsets me."

"S-sorry, ma'am!"

"I told you, dear, you can call me mother."

"...R-Right."

Kuroko's mother smiled at him before turning another page in her photo album. Kagami peeked over her shoulder, nearly bursting out laughing at the new set of pictures.

There were a dozen little Kuroko's staring out at him, eyes just as wide and blue as they were beside him. Even his smile was practically the same, if not more quiet and reserved. But instead of being the serious and practical boy he dated, this little Kuroko liked to chew on stuffed rabbits, and gurgle spit at his grandma, and curl into a perfect ball around his bottles.

Kuroko could say what he wanted. But he was a very round—and very freaking cute—baby.

A sharp pain jabbed into Kagami's side, making him clutch his ribs with a hiss.

"Kuroko! What was that for?!"

"I could tell what you were thinking," Kuroko said, with what was undoubtedly a pout.

He almost grabbed for Kuroko's head in a rough hold before he remembered they were still sitting beside Kuroko's mother. All it took was a click of her tongue and another page turn, then his attention was back on the pictures. His smile grew the longer he got to look.

Through the album, Kuroko slowly grew. From a chunk of a baby, to a happy kid, to the serene teenager he met years ago. There were _so many_  photos. With his mom and dad, with his grandma, with his old teammates, and with people he didn't even know. Family vacations, camping trips, school events—Kuroko's life was documented in rectangles of memories.

Kagami tried not to pay attention to how there were fewer pictures near the end of Kuroko's middle school years.

When she shut the photo album, a weird sense of sadness and nostalgia for something he didn't remember took over him. He snapped out of it when Kuroko's mother patted at his knee. She gave Kagami a patient smile as she stood up, returning the album to their bookshelf where even more albums waited. 

"What about you, Taiga?" she asked suddenly. "Can we see your baby pictures?"

Kagami blinked at her.

"Oh. Uh, well..." he started, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I don't really know where any are. I think a lot of them got lost or left behind when I moved back to Japan."

Her smile fell. For only a moment. Her eyes soft with concern, and face etched with a quiet kind of worry, she watched him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kuroko mirroring his mother's look. Then her smile was back and Kuroko was tugging at his hand so they could head for the court.

"I'll see what I can find though!" Kagami promised.

It turned out, he could only find a handful of pictures. Most of them were either school yearbook samples or random pictures of him and Tatsuya taken by Alex, but there were a couple from when he was little. It was barely enough to fill the first pages of an album. He tried not to think about that too much.

He always knew his family was different from Kuroko's. He loved his parents, and he was sure they loved him, but it was...different. They didn't do family vacations, or play silly games around the house, or take pictures just for the sake of having them. Kagami could barely remember the last time his dad came to visit, let alone take a picture with him.

They weren't close. Having the proof of that spread out in eight pictures on Kuroko's coffee table left him feeling stupid.

"Like I said, I think a lot of them got left behind." He shrugged. "With my dad and stuff."

Kuroko and his mother shared a look Kagami didn't quite understand. He wasn't sure he wanted to understand. It was like they had a whole conversation in a glance, then Kuroko's mother was picking up his pictures. She sifted through them, with Kuroko peeking over her shoulder at them.

In the next moment, Kuroko's mom was smiling and holding his hand in her tiny, strong grip.

"They're lovely pictures, Taiga. Your smile hasn't changed at all."

Kuroko nodded in agreement and Kagami ignored how hot his cheeks were.

He knew they were just amusing him, but he enjoyed showing them all the same. Seeing Kuroko's baby pictures made him feel closer, to both Kuroko and his family. He wanted to give that little part of himself to Kuroko too, even if it wasn't very big. So he told them all about the pictures—the dumbass things him and Tatsuya would do, how much he hated picture day, and how he was a fat baby too.

When he left with Kuroko, they were still laughing, and his eight pictures were tucked into the pocket of his jacket safely.

A month later, Kuroko gave him a wrapped package.

Kagami took it with curious hands, turning it over as he sat on his couch. "What's this for?"

"Nothing. Do I have to have a reason for getting you a gift?" Kuroko asked as he joined Kagami, curling against his shoulder.

"I mean, I guess not," he said as they nestled together, getting comfortable. "But a reason is kinda normal to have."

"My reason was I wanted to get you something."

Kagami made a face at him. "Has anyone ever told you that you're cheesy as hell?"

"I thought you said I was poetic?"

"Poetic on good days. Cheesy when I'm embarrassed."

Kuroko smiled and nudged the box in his lap. "Hush and open your present."

He rolled his eyes and peeled back the plain paper, tossing it aside along with the bow on top. Honestly, he had no idea what Kuroko could have gotten him. It wasn't like anything special was coming up, his birthday was still off, and he hadn't asked for anything. As he opened the lid off the box, his breath caught somewhere in his throat.

It was a photo album.

Simple and black, the fake leather cover was adorned with gold swirls and looping letters that spelled 'Photos'. His fingers couldn't help but trace it. Absently, he thought about how he didn't have nearly enough pictures to fill it. But soon he thought about how this could be his first photo album, and he could fill it with all kinds of pictures of him and Kuroko.

"Thanks,” he said with a smile, genuine. He kissed Kuroko's forehead. "We'll have to take pictures for it."

With a nuzzle, Kuroko peered up at him from under his lashes. If Kagami didn't know any better, he'd swear there was a dust of pink on Kuroko's cheeks. An embarrassed Kuroko wasn't a Kuroko he usually saw, and it made Kagami flustered.

"I may have...taken the liberty of starting it for you," Kuroko said with a duck of his head.

Kagami paused. Then slowly lifted the ornate cover.

The first thing he saw was Seirin. The whole team. Still sweaty and in their jerseys, holding trophies and ribbons and face-splitting smiles. The Winter Cup was so many years ago, but looking at the picture, it felt like it had just happened. Kagami blamed the onslaught of memories for his trembling fingers.

Page after page was filled with similar pictures. A recent one of him, Tatsuya, and Alex that he vaguely remembered Alex asking Kuroko to take. Some from back in high school, of him laughing in the locker room, or bumping fists with Kuroko on the court. There were a lot of him in his apartment—napping on the couch, cooking dinner, looking out from the balcony—and he realized with a flush that Kuroko must have taken those.

"Where..." He lost his voice and had to swallow to continue. "Where did you get all these?"

Kuroko watched him carefully. "I asked everyone for them. I said I was making a photo album for you, so I needed any pictures they had of you. Between Seirin and Alex and my mother, there were plenty of them."

He knew that pictures weren’t that important. Having a physical memento wasn’t as important as the memories that he made. Alex and Tatsuya spending time with him, Seirin meeting up now and then, Kuroko staying by his side. Those were all more important than keeping a camera close at hand.

Even realizing that, he'd never felt so thankful and in love before.

He buried his face in Kuroko's hair, trying to hide his blurring eyes. Kiss after kiss was pressed there, Kagami's lips memorizing the softness of blue strands.

"I love you, Tetsuya."

Kuroko smiled and kissed the underside of his chin. He didn't say anything in turn, but Kagami already knew the answer.

Instead, Kuroko snatched his phone off the table and swiped it to the camera. Holding it up above, Kagami saw them both reflected back in the frame. A smile swept over his face the same time as Kuroko, a brief flash filling the room and a shutter sound echoing. There they were, frozen in time and happy on Kuroko's screen. A memory cemented.

"Prepare yourself, Taiga-kun. We're going to be taking lots of pictures."

Kagami grinned. He was more than ready, and he knew he’d have to buy more photo albums soon.


End file.
